Karti Chidambaram tampered with evidence: CBI tells Supreme Court

Karti Chidambaram at the CBI office in new Delhi. (Express photo: Prem Nath Pandey)

The CBI Wednesday told the Supreme Court that Karti Chidambaram, son of former Finance minister P Chidambaram, had “tampered” with evidence related to a corruption case against him during his recent visits abroad.

Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta made the submission before a three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra while justifying the Look Out Circular (LOC) against Karti, who is facing a probe in the case of Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) clearance to INX Media for allegedly receiving overseas funds in 2007.

“The LOC has two purposes. First, considering the investigation, he (Karti) may not become an outlaw. Second, he can tamper with the evidence outside India,” Mehta, appearing for the CBI, said.

Mehta said he will show that Karti “has the potential to tamper with the evidence”, and that there were “contemporaneous official records” that reflected this. “These are not statements under Section 161 of CrPC which can be obtained by pressuring somebody. These are contemporaneous official records,” he added.

Where the investigating officer has reason to believe that there is possibility of tampering of evidence, he can take necessary action, Mehta contended. The ASG also sought to place before the bench information collected in the course of the investigation in a sealed cover. He said it will help the court understand the reasons for issuing the LOC.

Appearing for Karti, senior counsel Kapil Sibal objected to this and said if the ASG was placing them (information in sealed cover) in court, then he too was entitled to a copy. Sibal said the purpose of the LOC had been served, as he has “appeared before the investigating agency”. He stressed that Karti is not an accused as he not been charged yet. But the CJI pointed out that “once an FIR is filed, the person named therein is an accused”.